Prosecutorial Misconduct

Justice Department Should 'Step Up' on Flawed Forensic Evidence

Ginny Sloan | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Brady v. Maryland, Department of Justice, Hair Evidence, Ted Stevens Conviction, Forensic Evidence, Henry Schuelke, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Armchair Detective, Politics News

If the DOJ thinks there may be problems with hair evidence in District of Columbia cases, why should we believe there are not similar problems with hair evidence compiled by the FBI lab and used to obtain convictions in other jurisdictions?

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The Unchecked Charging Power of the Prosecutor

Radley Balko | Posted 04.14.2012

Read More: George Zimmerman, Prosecutorial Discretion, Bennett Gershman, Trayvon Martin, Alan Dershowitz, Criminal Justice, Angela Corey, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Crime News

The power prosecutors have to charge people with crimes is often overlooked.

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TEXAS INJUSTICE: 91 Cases Of Prosecutor Misconduct, No Discipline

Austin Chronicle | Posted 04.06.2012

Read More: Texas, Criminal Justice, Michael Morton, Criminal Justice System, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Crime News

Although courts have confirmed that prosecutorial misconduct occurred in 91 Texas criminal cases between 2004 and 2008, not a single prosecutor among ...

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Texas Court of Inquiry Into Prosecutorial Misconduct Is Big News

Andrea Lyon | Posted 04.22.2012

Read More: Due Process, Innocence, Innocence Project, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Supreme Court, Justice, Crime News

A special investigation has been convened to decide whether a former prosecutor, who is now a judge, hid evidence in a trial in which a man was wrongly convicted of his wife's murder and sent to prison for almost 25 years.

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For-Profit Criminal Prosecutions

Andrea Lyon | Posted 03.14.2012

Read More: Police, Crime, Public Defender, Prosecution, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Tabloid Journalism, Crime News

When there is publicity associated with a criminal prosecution, the ability for jurors, judges, and prosecutors and yes, sometimes even defense lawyers, to presume innocence becomes even more circumscribed.

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Rule Following Is for Both Government and Citizens

Brad Reid | Posted 02.02.2012

Read More: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Dismissal of Criminal Charges, Over-Zealous, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Prosecution, Business News

The important lesson for all is that "winning" is not the only thing. Winning is the outcome of superior products and services in the business context. Winning in law should mean that justice under law is served.

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We Must Insist on Accountability for Wrongful Convictions

John Conroy | Posted 01.31.2012

Read More: Wrongful Conviction, Randy Steidl, Center on Wrongful Convictions, Chicago Police Misconduct, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Armchair Detective, Chicago News

Wrongful convictions have ruined lives and wasted tax dollars. They represent a shameful and reprehensible miscarriage of justice. But a measure of accountability can still be salvaged, even decades after the fact.

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Sometimes the Other Person Has a Point

Andrea Lyon | Posted 01.29.2012

Read More: Political Discord, Dna, Criminal Justice, Innocent, Innocence, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Prosecution, Armchair Detective, Crime News

It is hard to admit a mistake, but for heaven's sake, there has to be a better way to evaluate a case than fighting simply to save the conviction.

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Myths Of The Criminal Justice System

HuffingtonPost.com | Radley Balko | Posted 10.31.2011

Read More: Law, Double-Jeopardy, Death Row, Death Row Exoneration, Crime, Wrongful Conviction, Sentencing, Criminal Justice, Injustice, Philadelphia Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Crime News

Note: In conjunction with the launch of HuffPost's Crime vertical, senior writer and criminal justice reporter Radley Balko looks at several myths and...

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Why Should a Person Wrongly Convicted Be Required To Sue For Compensation?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 06.11.2011

Read More: Wrongful Convictions, Prisons, Failure to Train, Compensation for Wrongful Conviction, John Thompson, Supreme-Court-Connick-v-Thompson, Exonerations, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

Why should a person who has been wrongly convicted, declared innocent, acquitted and exonerated have to prove anything in order to be compensated? Every state should have mandatory compensation in all such cases.

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Thank You, Governor Quinn

Andrea Lyon | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Governor Quinn, Death Penalty, Illinois Death Penalty, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Illinois Death Penalty Abolished, Death Penalty Debate, Chicago News

Gov. Quinn has asked us all to step away from vengeance, from error and heartache and instead to concentrate on preventing violence and assisting the victims of violence. We can do that, can't we?

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Why Do Innocent People Confess to Crimes They Did Not Commit?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: False Confessions, Governor Tim Kaine.DNA Exoneration, Frontline, Michelle Bosko Case, Coerced Confessions, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

The answer all too often is coercion, intimidation, deceit and trickery. All of those techniques were employed to obtain the conviction of four innocent sailors for the rape and murder of a woman in Norfolk, Virginia.

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Can This Be Happening in America- A Prosecutor Investigating the Motives of Student Journalists Seeking to Free a Man They Believe to be Innocent?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Anthony McKinney, Investigation of Student Journalists, Medill Innocence Project, Cook County Prosecutor, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

The Medill Innocence Project of Northwestern University spent 3 years investigating the conviction of Anthony McKinney who was convicted of murder 31 ...

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Famed Doctor Cyril Wecht: Fight Justice Department Misconduct

Andrew Kreig | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Siegelman, Justice, USA Today, Wecht, Holder, Rove, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

Forensic medical expert Cyril H. Wecht provides a vitally needed defendant's perspective on the terrible Justice Department misconduct that USA Today ...

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Pardon the Troublemaker: An Appeal for an Old Friend

Christopher Ketcham | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pardon, Harper's Magazine, Joe Hynes, Machine Politics, Brooklyn, John O'Hara, Prosecutorial Misconduct, New York News

My friend John Kennedy O'Hara, of Brooklyn, NY, has been called a "political street-fighter," a "mad dog," a "dissident." Among the incumbents who he...

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Model Conduct

Adam W. Goldberg and Joshua P. Galper | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Prosecutorial Accountability, Big Ben, Ben Roethlisberger Georgia, Ben Roethlisberger, Fred Bright, Ben Roethlisberger Investigation, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Sports Crime, Sports News

While we don't know the facts about Ben Roethlisberger's case, we do know that the lead prosecutor investigating it seems to be taking his public duty seriously. We tip our hats to Fred Bright.

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Failing to Punish Prosecutorial Misconduct Only Invites More

John Terzano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Department of Justice, Prosecutors, Blackwater, Prosecutorial-Accountability, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

The prosecutorial misconduct in the Blackwater case goes to the heart of a nationwide problem. In the face of enormous pressure to obtain convictions, prosecutors at the state and federal level all too often abuse their power.

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Prosecutors Must Seek Justice, Not Merely Convictions

John Terzano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The Justice Project, Prosecutorial Accountability, District Attorney, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, California, Home News

Prosecutors play a unique and powerful role in our justice system. Yet too often, prosecutors neglect their ethical duty to protect the innocent and guard the rights of the accused.

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Prosecutors Must be Held Accountable for Misconduct

John Terzano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Supreme Court, Wrongful Conviction, The Justice Project, Prosecutorial-Accountability, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

Despite the great power of prosecutors, few are held accountable for violations of their ethical obligations.

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Broadcom Execs' Charges Dropped

AP | GILLIAN FLACCUS | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Broadcom Fraud, Henry T. Nicholas III., Broadcom, Prosecutorial Misconduct, William Ruehle, Business News

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge Tuesday dismissed all charges against the remaining two defendants in the government's sweeping securities f...

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Two More Exonerations Stress the Need for Credible Evidence

John Terzano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Exoneration, The Justice Project, Oklahoma, Death Row, Jailhouse Informants, Jailhouse Snitch, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

Two new exonerations reveal the very real threat of false testimony, and the strong need for corroborating evidence to ensure that credible testimony is presented to juries in criminal trials.

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Changing the "Convict at All Costs" Culture of Prosecutor's Offices

John Terzano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wrongful Conviction, Prosecutorial Accountability, The Justice Project, California, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

All too often, prosecutors' offices fall prey to a culture of conviction-seeking at all costs. Prosecutors who become singularly focused on conviction rates neglect their duty to protect the innocent.

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Creating a Culture of Innocence: Lessons from Hofstra and Duke

Alafair Burke | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Duke Lacrosse, Duke, Hofstra, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Hofstra Rape, Politics News

Because of selective information processing, beliefs in a defendant's guilt are naturally sticky. Cognitive science suggests prosecutors might unintentionally distort their analysis of new evidence.

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Willingham Prosecutor's Lack of Doubt Too Extreme

Amy Bach | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Amy Bach, New Yorker, David Grann, Texas, Cameron Todd Willingham, Chicago Tribune, Indigent Defendants, Innocence Project, Innocence, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Corsicana, Politics News

As the Willingham case demonstrates, there's a certain kind of behavioral reaction by people who work in courts -- prosecutors especially -- that defends the system over all contrary evidence.

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The Costs of Wrongful Convictions Continue to Rise

John Terzano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wrongful Conviction, The Justice Project, California, Lousiana, Policy Review, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News

Wrongful convictions occur due to a system that is prone to error. In addition to incarcerating a person for a crime they didn't commit, wrongful convictions impose a financial burden on taxpayers.

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